Exhibition
by Batty Musings
Summary: Prompt: Bolin gets asked out by girls, Korra doesn't know how she feels about that.


**Borra Week Prompt**: Bolin gets asked out by girls, Korra doesn't know how she feels about that.

**A/N**: Old work I had on tumblr, figured I might as well upload here too!

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**Exhibition**

Korra scowled as she watched Bolin finish what had been his fifth set of pushups.

Releasing a breath, he jumped up to his feet and flashed a smile at the group of girls around him. "How was that?"

Korra resisted the urge to plug her ears with noodles as they squealed their appreciation. She had spent her entire life in the South Pole and yet she'd never heard a more convincing otter penguin expression. She was beginning to wonder if they'd practiced it.

"Oh Bolin, that was amazing!" sighed one girl, fanning herself with her hand. Korra took no small pleasure in the fact that she looked like she was about to pass out.

"You must be so tired," pouted another, batting her eyelashes as she peered up at him.

Bolin laughed and boasted, "Well, yeah, it is pretty impressive, isn't it? And it's all thanks to these guys!"

With a loud _ka-pow_he flexed his arms and posed for the crowd. Korra snorted. He made his own sound effects? Really?

Sadly the other girls didn't seem to feel the same way, as all were in varying states of dehydration. Korra narrowed her eyes dangerously. She could help with that.

"Wow, you must work out a _lot_."

"Maybe I can come with you next time," said one as she slid up to next to him and wrapped her hand around his bicep.

"No, I want to come with him!"

"No, me!"

Korra stuck a finger into her mouth and gagged.

As they went on and on, she started to mimic them. "Oh Bolin, you're so strong and big and packed with huge stupid muscles. Carry me, Bolin, carry me!"

"Ladies, ladies," Bolin said gently, holding up his hands in an effort to placate them, "I already have my training partner, it's that lovely lady over there."

Suddenly all eyes were on her. Korra stopped mid-sentence, hoping he hadn't heard the part where she'd began to sarcastically—or not so sarcastically—rave about how gorgeous his green eyes were. Coughing, she forced a smile to her face and waved back. "Heh heh, that's me."

Their heads couldn't snap back any faster. "Ooh, so how do you train? I bet a pro-bending champion like you can lift _anything_."

Korra forced her hand—and the flame daggers it had been preparing to throw—down and targeted safely away from the innocent civilians. She grabbed hold of the solid wood table of the water-tribe restaurant in an attempt to stop herself from coming that close again.

Taking a deep breath, Korra tried to focus on the meditation techniques Tenzin had been teaching her. Release yourself from your body. Become one with the air. Let go of all worldly problems. Sadness, happiness, fear, anger—

"Why don't you bend something for us?"

Her hands dug into the soft wood of the table as her concentration broke with a sharp crack. Or maybe that was the table. Fuming, she held up two large chunks of splintering wood and shot a glare at Bolin.

_No._ He wouldn't dare earthbend, not here, not now. Amon and his Equalists were still roaming the city; it would be sheer stupidity to taunt them by bending in such a public place. Even he knew that.

Heck, you'd have to be completely oblivious and unknowing of anything even _resembling_ a consequence in order to pull a move that—

"Of course!" Bolin chirped back, looking happy at the chance to show off for the crowd.

Korra slammed her head down on the near broken table, letting out a sound that was half a moan and half a death rattle. Not wanting to look at him, she stayed like that and murmured, "Stupid. See if I care, huh. I won't, you know. I _don't_. You could be getting pushed into an Equalist van right in front of me and I'd just give them a thumbs up and ask if they need help starting the stupid car."

She winced when she heard herself. Okay, that may have been a little too harsh.

Korra bit her lip as she remembered the last time she'd seen Bolin getting forced into an Equalist van. He'd been absolutely terrified. Resolve melting at the memory, she sighed and guessed that she'd at least help him out a little if it did happen again. He was still her best friend, no matter how dumb he was acting at the moment.

"Korra!" A voice rang out right by her ear.

She jumped at the sound and cried out, "Hey! What do you think you're doing—oh wait, it's only you, Bolin. Don't scare me like that."

He frowned. "You seem a little out of it Korra. Do you want to go back to the island to rest or something?"

Korra slumped and replied, "No, it's fine, Bo. Really."

Sure, she'd love to get as far away from this restaurant and its less-than-pleasant customers but she _had_ agreed to come out here with Bolin. And the Avatar never went back on their word.

Plus, if she went back, she'd probably find Mako and Asami making out in the courtyard again.

Bolin brightened up instantly and exclaimed, "That's great! Some of these people seem to be huge Fire-Ferret fans and they want to see me in action!"

"I hadn't noticed," she lied neatly, even managing to plaster on a smile.

"And they actually like me," he went on, "Not, well, just as a way to get to Mako like all the rest of those fangirls did. I mean, these girls haven't even asked me if he was free or anything!"

Korra didn't have the heart to tell him that it was probably because the entire city had already heard about the relationship between a certain pro-bending champion and the rich daughter of his former-sponsor.

"Isn't it great?" Bolin finished, grinning.

"Yea, Bo, it's really great," she said, a sad smile playing on her face. "You're one of a kind."

At least they couldn't take this from her, Korra thought as his face lit up at her answer. To her knowledge, Bolin smiled like that at one person—her. It was comforting to know he wouldn't be forgetting her too soon.

But why it was comforting, she didn't exactly know why. She knew this was nothing near a date; they'd both made that clear to each other when he'd asked. They'd just been going out on random trips together all over the city the last couple days to get away from the way Mako and Asami were always doting on each other. As disgusting as it was the first time they'd caught them kissing, it was absolutely sickening the twentieth.

So these outings were a marriage of convenience more than anything. She got to see the city, he got to eat whatever he wanted, the bill completely paid courtesy of one Airbending Master who couldn't stand having that many kids together in the temple at the same time. This was nothing more than two friends hanging out and having fun. She knew that.

So the horrible gnawing feeling in her stomach that came out every time he smiled at one of the girls really was really completely uncalled for.

Korra sighed and resigned herself to it. It wasn't like she could, oh say, bend the soup into ice and freeze them to the floor before they laid another hand on him. That would be completely ridiculous.

There wasn't nearly enough soup.

Bolin turned back to her and asked, "Oh, and can you do me a favor?"

"Anything," she said, meaning it completely.

"Could you hold this?"

And with that, he peeled off his shirt and handed it to her. Her ears rang at the collective squealing of no less than twenty women but Korra found herself a little more worried about how red her face was turning.

"Uh, sure, Bolin, I'll do that, yep," she stammered, finding it hard to tear her eyes away from the expanse of his chest. Okay, she had not known that muscles could look like that. This was a nice sight. A very nice sight.

"Thanks!"

He turned back to the girls and Korra let herself marvel at the way the muscles in his back moved as he started to bend a chunk of the ground upwards. Her sigh joined the others as he raised himself up in triumph.

A very, _very_ nice sight.

Even she had to clap when he slowly put the rock back down, melting it seamlessly back into floor. He bowed at the applause. "Thank you, thank you, I'm here all night. Well, not really, Mako says we have to be home by nine, but it's the thought that counts, right?"

The girls rushed forward to gush over him. "I can't believe it!"

"It was so huge!"

"And you lifted it up all by yourself!"

Korra smiled; glad that Bolin was getting the attention and compliments he seemed to thrive on. The gnawing feeling her stomach let up as she watched him quickly apologize to the restaurant's owner and go back to flexing for the girls. It was hard to be upset when he looked so happy. She'd get over this little whatever-it-was.

One girl pulled him into a hug. "Oh Bobo, you're really one of a kind!"

Korra saw red.

Before she knew it, she'd leaped up from her place. The table fell apart after her, finally put out of his misery. With a snarl, bended a boulder from out of the ground, holding it above her as she seethed. Just as she was about to throw it forward and topple the girls like bowling balls, she froze.

What was she doing?

Her face fell as she realized that she had no right to act like this. To feel like this. If Bolin wanted to have fun and have these girls flirt with him, he could. Heck, even if he wanted to _kiss_ one of these girls he could. And as horrible as that feeling was, she had no right to interfere.

This wasn't a date.

Korra winced as she looked up to see the fearful faces of the restaurant's customers stare back at her like they were afraid of what she would do next. She was the Avatar; she was supposed to protect people. Oh spirits, couldn't she do anything right?

"That is..._awesome_!"

A voice rang out, sounding amazed.

"You bended it so fast and it's gigantic, too!"

Korra's eyes flickered over at Bolin, confused. He thought she was just joining the show?

Bolin rushed forward and slung an arm over her shoulder as he announced out to the crowd, "And this is the Avatar! Funnest, strongest, most beautiful girl in the world!"

Korra couldn't help flushing at the compliment. How was it that only Bolin could make her feel like this?

"Heh, thanks Bolin," she murmured as everybody else started to clap. Wow, they actually bought that. And judging by the look on Bolin's face, he did too. Why did he always think the best of her? She slowly bended the rock back down and turned back to him.

"I'm sorry I stole your thunder, Bo," Korra apologized.

Bolin waved it off. "Nah, it's fun seeing you have fun."

"No, I'm serious Bolin, I know how much you like having an audience. I shouldn't have gotten...upset," she mumbled, wincing a little. Jealous was more like it.

"But you're the best audience there is, Korra," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I like showing off around you."

He looked back at her with such sincerity that she just had to smile. He was really sweet, wasn't he?

"I'm not going to mess things up next week," she promised.

"Actually, I was thinking we have an arm wrestling tournament on the island next week. Wanna be my partner?" Bolin leaned in close and whispered, "We'll totally destroy them, trust me. Mako has this ticklish spot on his thumb and Asami's nails chip really easily. We'll exploit their weaknesses."

Korra laughed. "It's a date."

He stared at her in shock for a moment before he registered what she'd said.

Bolin's whoop of excitement was overheard by nearly everyone in the restaurant.

An old lady sitting on a table the opposite end slowly sipped her tea as she watched them. Her hair stuck out in braids off the side of her head, and although they were old and graying, they nonetheless retained all of their usual shape.

Gingerly placing it down into its saucer, she mourned the loss of the show that had been keeping her so amused. That boy had been a marvel to see, even if his ears were a bit on the small side. Sighing, she raised the tea back up to her lips. Before she took another sip, she glanced over at the Avatar and muttered, "Floozy."


End file.
